I thought it was valve to valve contact ?instead of piston to valve contact.

Valve to valve contact??? Really??? AFAIK there is no such thing...

Yes, there is such thing. This engine can have valve to valve contact occur if the belt snaps. It's a dual overhead cam engine. One cam for the intake valves, one for the exhaust valves. Obviously under normal conditions the intake and exhaust valves open at different times and they don't interfere with each other. But if the belt snaps and the camshafts can freewheel at whatever speed, the intake and exhaust valves can be both open at the same time and smack into each other.

And yes, this occurs on this particular engine. The pistons will never hit the valves, but the valves can hit each other.

I thought it was valve to valve contact ?instead of piston to valve contact.

Valve to valve contact??? Really??? AFAIK there is no such thing...

Yes, there is such thing. This engine can have valve to valve contact occur if the belt snaps. It's a dual overhead cam engine. One cam for the intake valves, one for the exhaust valves. Obviously under normal conditions the intake and exhaust valves open at different times and they don't interfere with each other. But if the belt snaps and the camshafts can freewheel at whatever speed, the intake and exhaust valves can be both open at the same time and smack into each other.

And yes, this occurs on this particular engine. The pistons will never hit the valves, but the valves can hit each other.

Thanks...

The marble rolling around in my head was telling it could be possible but since I don't buy such vehicles, I've never encountered this problem...

Good for you. The 2.4 is a great engine when properly maintained. My friends mom had the turbo version. It was a fun little car. Great on fuel and the kids can get in and out easy enough. I bought my charger for my kids. I wanted a DVD player,a big enough back seat and leg room that is adequate as they grow into adults and I had to have leather,so much easier to clean. Would it hurt if I told you I get from 26-30mpg on the highway,with a hemi,and city driving may burn a bit more fuel but its way more fun too.

Good for you. The 2.4 is a great engine when properly maintained. My friends mom had the turbo version. It was a fun little car. Great on fuel and the kids can get in and out easy enough. I bought my charger for my kids. I wanted a DVD player,a big enough back seat and leg room that is adequate as they grow into adults and I had to have leather,so much easier to clean. Would it hurt if I told you I get from 26-30mpg on the highway,with a hemi,and city driving may burn a bit more fuel but its way more fun too.

No because its apples and oranges. The hemi hardly works to pull that car around. Also I would guess you are the minority getting that kind of gas mileage with a hemi most people probably drive them harder. I know I would.The pt is kinda surprising. In just cruising down the highway and I look down a and it says I'm doing 90 it felt like 65-70. I honestly didn't see myself liking this car all that much but I got to say I really do like it. It's easy to get in and out its comfortable.

Off topic...........now assisting my adult daughter to find a good used car in the $4,000 - $6,000 dollar range, Ram man's other post about used car prices is spot on. In Michigan, people are wanting $5,000+ on 10 year+ Corolla's with over 150,000 miles. There are very few available and lesser ones often have "stories"....salvage title, et..

Best of luck with the PT Cruiser. My 2.4's in my Caravans did very well. The spark plug well O-rings tend to start leaking oil around 120K or so, but that is a cheap easy fix. They had a spark plug number change to avoid cold fouling sometime around 2004....there's a TSB for that. Keep the tranny well maintained. They claim to have remedied most of the problems by 2002 or so. Drive it easy. I also read that the PT is hard on plug wires due to heat degradation, but that might only be the turbo models.

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"There are things you do that put food on the table, and there are things you do that feed your soul." I am blessed to have them be the same things.

Off topic...........now assisting my adult daughter to find a good used car in the $4,000 - $6,000 dollar range, Ram man's other post about used car prices is spot on. In Michigan, people are wanting $5,000+ on 10 year+ Corolla's with over 150,000 miles. There are very few available and lesser ones often have "stories"....salvage title, et..

Best of luck with the PT Cruiser. My 2.4's in my Caravans did very well. The spark plug well O-rings tend to start leaking oil around 120K or so, but that is a cheap easy fix. They had a spark plug number change to avoid cold fouling sometime around 2004....there's a TSB for that. Keep the tranny well maintained. They claim to have remedied most of the problems by 2002 or so. Drive it easy. I also read that the PT is hard on plug wires due to heat degradation, but that might only be the turbo models.